| Skivvy Girl: The Love of a Post WWII Japanese Pleasure Girl |
About the Author
Earnest Mercer enlisted in the navy at the outset of the Korean Conflict, trained in a branch of naval intelligence, and was sent
to Japan near the end of military occupation. He remained in Japan through 1953 .He took great interest in the both the
language and culture of Japan, an interest he maintains to this day. He wrote an MBA thesis on the cultural effect unpon the
Japanese economic recovery after the war. The events he depicts are based on fact; the characters are composites of men
and women he knew during his tour in Japan.
ISBN 9781456522599
| Available: Amazon.com $15.00 All e-book readers $4.99 Direct from author: emercer2@tampabay.rr.com $15.00 inc. S&H (USA) |
Best in Historical Fiction Genre 2011
This novel tells with seamless authenticity and brutal realism the life of Japan's young post war prostitutes, known as "skivvy
girls" in military parlance, and is depicted by the composite protagonist, Matsuyama Yoshiko. Her story begins in a tiny farming
community in 1945, when as a seventeen-year-old girl she is stunned by the harsh reality that the death of her father on Iwo Jima
has left her and her mother destitute and on the verge of starvation. Yoshiko, a sexually inexperienced virgin, turns to prostitution
in the iniquitous naval port city of Yokosuka for survival. She arrives penniless, alone, and with no concept of the callous world of
prostitution in which she is about to enter. Taken in by a skivvy house madam, she endures exhaustive training on how to
accommodate her clients. When she completes training, she takes her place among the other skivvy house girls. From the
beginning, she suffers brutal treatment from pitiless, often drunken, seamen hungering for sex after long periods at sea. After
enduring the demanding life of a prostitute for several months, she is visited by a shy young American sailor who treats her with
kindness and respect. They form a bond that eventually morphs into love. Yoshiko leaves the skivvy house to live with her
American lover. Together they endure language differences, cultural challenges, and the harshness of the post-war
environment, but find solace in their affection for one another. But what does fate hold for these star-crossed lovers?
Excerpt
The heaving and rumbling of the earthquake finally subsides. The young sailor risking a charge of desertion leaves the
devastated navy base and battles his way through the temblor's destruction to find his lover. Nearing exhaustion, his hands raw
and excruciatingly painful, he is forced to consider giving up the fruitless search for Yoshiko in the smoldering rubble that was
once their refuge. Suddenly, he spies a scrap of colorful material that could be from Yoshiko's yukata. Then almost
simultaneously, he sees a tiny foot peeking from beneath a smoking rafter. When he is able to extract Yoshiko's seared and
bruised body from the debris, he carries her limp form outside to relative safety. There,totally spent, he sinks to his knees
cradling his young lover in his arms. Throwing his head back, he emits a mournful wail rising from the pit of his stomach
beseeching the help of Yoshiko's Shinto gods.
girls" in military parlance, and is depicted by the composite protagonist, Matsuyama Yoshiko. Her story begins in a tiny farming
community in 1945, when as a seventeen-year-old girl she is stunned by the harsh reality that the death of her father on Iwo Jima
has left her and her mother destitute and on the verge of starvation. Yoshiko, a sexually inexperienced virgin, turns to prostitution
in the iniquitous naval port city of Yokosuka for survival. She arrives penniless, alone, and with no concept of the callous world of
prostitution in which she is about to enter. Taken in by a skivvy house madam, she endures exhaustive training on how to
accommodate her clients. When she completes training, she takes her place among the other skivvy house girls. From the
beginning, she suffers brutal treatment from pitiless, often drunken, seamen hungering for sex after long periods at sea. After
enduring the demanding life of a prostitute for several months, she is visited by a shy young American sailor who treats her with
kindness and respect. They form a bond that eventually morphs into love. Yoshiko leaves the skivvy house to live with her
American lover. Together they endure language differences, cultural challenges, and the harshness of the post-war
environment, but find solace in their affection for one another. But what does fate hold for these star-crossed lovers?
Excerpt
The heaving and rumbling of the earthquake finally subsides. The young sailor risking a charge of desertion leaves the
devastated navy base and battles his way through the temblor's destruction to find his lover. Nearing exhaustion, his hands raw
and excruciatingly painful, he is forced to consider giving up the fruitless search for Yoshiko in the smoldering rubble that was
once their refuge. Suddenly, he spies a scrap of colorful material that could be from Yoshiko's yukata. Then almost
simultaneously, he sees a tiny foot peeking from beneath a smoking rafter. When he is able to extract Yoshiko's seared and
bruised body from the debris, he carries her limp form outside to relative safety. There,totally spent, he sinks to his knees
cradling his young lover in his arms. Throwing his head back, he emits a mournful wail rising from the pit of his stomach
beseeching the help of Yoshiko's Shinto gods.